Same here..with Queen 2 a very close 2nd. Black Side is perfection, still blows me away after 30 years of listening, but side 2 of Opera is equal in my opinion. After understanding the brilliance of Good Company I put it up there with side Black. The difference is side 1 Of Opera is more Consistent than side White. Procession/Father to son/White Queen is perfect. Some day one day is no 39 and loser In the end is no I'm in love with My Car. That's the difference for me.[/QUOTE]
Bang on.
TomP63 · Member since
Mike, that's too easy for me, stating that Some Day, One Day is no '39, given that thought, Who Wants To Live Forever is no '39 either, or Leaving Home Ain't Easy. Tenement Funster is no Drowse either. In that light, I'm In Love With My Car is also a tad out of place on Opera.
Tom
mike hunt · Member since
I'm not sure what you mean tom.....why I feel Opera has the slight edge is side 1 is more consistent and side 2 is equal. Some Day is ok, but those Brian songs got better with 39, Good Company and long away. Loser In the End I neved liked. Nice drum work, but the song didn't fit the feel of the album. I'm not saying anyones wrong if they think Queen 2 is better, It's a brilliant album. I Just think Opera Has everything that is Queen.
mike hunt · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]TomP63 wrote:[/b]
Mike, that's too easy for me, stating that Some Day, One Day is no '39, given that thought, Who Wants To Live Forever is no '39 either, or Leaving Home Ain't Easy. Tenement Funster is no Drowse either. In that light, I'm In Love With My Car is also a tad out of place on Opera.
Tom[/QUOTE] yea, but if we were comparing Opera with Jazz it would be natural too say 39 is better than leaving home and love Of My life is better than Jealousy. Death on two legs is a better opener than Mustapha. That's usually how you compare albums.
TomP63 · Member since
Mike, that's my point, what if Loser In the End was the opener for the Black Side?
Tom
mike hunt · Member since
I agree you can't go only by that.....you also ask yourself over time....In our case a long time, if you were born in 63. What our all time favorite songs are and what album you keep going back to after years of listening. How do you decide which album is your favorite? I agree you can't say one album is better than another. We all like different things. Someone on this thread mentioned side 2 of The Works. That's his taste....let's grill him over that. How dare he like The Works over Queen 2 and Opera.....I think Roger and Brian liked SHA when asked what their favorite was. Slash It was NOTW.....I'm stating a reason why I put opera at 1 and Queen2 at a very close 2nd. In my opinion it was bit more consistent, and we also got many different styles of music on Opera. One thing we could agree on is Opera was the most Important record they ever made as per Roger Talyor.
Sheer Brass Neck · Member since
^^^
It would have sucked. Back then (not being a dick, just uncertain of reader ages here who may have never listened to anything but downloads or a CD), flipping a side meant something, it was the physical end of the side. Turn it over and the anticipation of the new side begins. The slow build, backward masking and vocal intro to Ogre Battle was sensational, LITE had none of the drama and would have been a lousy side opener. Queen were so good at great picks for side two the in the album days.
Sheer Brass Neck · Member since
^^^ Tom P63
It would have sucked. Back then (not being a dick, just uncertain of reader ages here who may have never listened to anything but downloads or a CD), flipping a side meant something, it was the physical end of the side. Turn it over and the anticipation of the new side begins. The slow build, backward masking and vocal intro to Ogre Battle was sensational, LITE had none of the drama and would have been a lousy side opener. Queen were so good at great picks for side two the in the album days.
mooghead · Member since
One album I just cannot have on in the background. It actually deserves to be listened to. On the very rare occasions I can sit back and close my eyes and give it my full concentration it never fails to astound. I always hear something in it that I didn't hear before. Imagine if Queen were always told 'forget singles, just do what you want'... It is the very essence of the band.
dysan · Member since
I haven't got Queen 2 yet or The Works so can't comment TBH!
mike hunt · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Sheer Brass Neck wrote:[/b]
^^^
It would have sucked. Back then (not being a dick, just uncertain of reader ages here who may have never listened to anything but downloads or a CD), flipping a side meant something, it was the physical end of the side. Turn it over and the anticipation of the new side begins. The slow build, backward masking and vocal intro to Ogre Battle was sensational, LITE had none of the drama and would have been a lousy side opener. Queen were so good at great picks for side two the in the album days.[/QUOTE]
I agree! I wouldn't trade buying records back in the 80's for nothing. I'm 46 so I did miss buying those early Queen records when they were new....but my Introduction to Queen was SHA and Queen 2 on Record In 1988, and yes It would have sucked If loser in the end opened side black. Thank god for Orge Battle!
mike hunt · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]mooghead wrote:[/b]
One album I just cannot have on in the background. It actually deserves to be listened to. On the very rare occasions I can sit back and close my eyes and give it my full concentration it never fails to astound. I always hear something in it that I didn't hear before. Imagine if Queen were always told 'forget singles, just do what you want'... It is the very essence of the band.[/QUOTE]
It's brilliant.....Just think In only 8 more years they would release Hot Space.
dysan · Member since
Add to the 80s memories spooling to the end of the tape. Some tapes rejigged the tracklists to even up the side lengths (most notably Queen 1) but those that didn't really ate into your personal stereo batteries :)
Invisible Woman · Member since
This album is great, of course, but I don't listen to it often.
Thrill Yeti · Member since
I'm in the minority here, but I don't think it's THAT brilliant. It's really ambitious, and brave, and wonderfully creative, but I don't think it's as melodic as the stuff that came shortly after, and ultimately great melodies are my favourite part of Queen.
Side 1 - Father to Son is a decent heavy song, but it's no It's Late. White Queen is touching, though melodically doesn't do it for me. Some Day One Day is boring (we're talking She Makes Me levels of dull here). Loser in the end is meh.
Side 2 is better, for sure. However, I can't get on board with the lyrical themes of Fairy Feller; Seven Seas is good, though probably the weakest lead single they released until Jazz came along; MOTBQ is great, and brilliantly ambitious, but it doesn't have the impact of Bohemian Rhapsody (I'd probably take The Millionaire Waltz over it, too, if we're comparing those kinds of Freddie songs).
Nevermore is beautiful and probably my favourite song on the album.
